The Sociology of Medical Science and Technology

Contributors examine the relationship between science and clinical practice; the development, assessment and regulation of health care technologies; and the implications of the 'new genetics'. 1. Assessing the Social Impact of Genetic Biotechnologies: Evan Willis (La Trobe University Australia).

2. The Abortion Pill RU486: A Case of Organizational and Technological Change: Sharon Tabberer (Anglia Polytechnic University).

3. 'Strange Bedfellows' in the Laboratory of the NHS? An Institutional and Methodological Analysis of the new Science of Health Technology Assessment in the United Kingdom: Alex Faulkner (University of Bristol).

4. The Rhetoric of Prediction and Chance in the Research to Clone a Disease Gene: Paul Atkinson, Claire Bachelor and Evelyn Parsons (University of Wales, Cardiff).

5. Knowledge of the Body: Lay and Biomedical Understanding of Musculoskeletal Disorders: Helen Busby, Gareth Williams and Anne Rogers (University of Salford).

6. The Science and Politics of Medicines Regulation: John Abraham (University of Sussex).

7. Medical Pedigrees and the Visual Production of Family Disease in Canadian and Japanese Genetic Counseling Practices: Yoshio Nukaga and Alberto Cambrosio (McGill University, Canada).

8. Vital Comparisons: The Social Construction of Measurement in Health: Mel Bartley (University College, London) and David Blane (Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London).

Mary Ann Elston is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research interests include the organisaton of biomedical research, the health care professions and gender and health care. She is co-editor of the journal Sociology of Health and Illness. The Sociology of Medical Science and Technology contributes to the growing debate about the relationship between science and medicine by bringing together approaches from two areas of sociology; the sociology of medicine, and the sociology of science and technology. Drawing on research in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Japan and North America, this book provides a fascinating perspective on many key aspects of modern medicine.

Contributors examine the relationship between science and clinical practice, and the development, assessment and regulation of pharmaceutical products and health care technologies. The implications of the "new genetics" are also considered through case studies of genetic counseling practice and the development of genetic screening methods. Other chapters examine public understanding of science and medicine in the context of chronic disease. This book will form an invaluable resource to all those researching, teaching or studying modern health care.